Red Cross helps displaced Muslim villagers

COTABATO CITY, Philippines — More than a thousand displaced villagers in Datu Salibo, Maguindanao del Sur have received food items and cash assistance from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

Abdulrauf Macacua, chief minister of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), told reporters yesterday that at least 200 marginalized families benefitted from the ICRC relief mission.

“The families have faced many challenges since they were displaced by armed conflicts. We hope that the assistance they received could help pave the path to their recovery,” said Rim Hajji, ICRC head of office in Cotabato City.

The beneficiaries of the ICRC relief mission are from interior areas in Datu Salibo who were forced to abandon their homes due to recurring conflicts in recent years between government forces and the now weakened Dawlah Islamiya and Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters.

According to Macacua, the families each received food supplies and P4,500 in cash.

“The presence of an ICRC team in Cotabato City and serving our displaced constituents in BARMM provinces complements the Bangsamoro government’s relief works for conflict- and calamity-stricken areas. For that we are thankful,” Macacua said.

The ICRC is an independent humanitarian organization whose main mission is to serve victims of armed conflicts.

The transnational ICRC is a neutral, impartial and independent humanitarian organization, whose main mission is to serve victims of armed conflicts regardless of national and ethnic origins and religion.